Calendar

Feb
18
Sat
Ladies of (Cannop) Valley @ Pedalabikeaway
Feb 18 @ 10:30 am – 1:30 pm
Ladies of (Cannop) Valley @ Pedalabikeaway | England | United Kingdom

This ride is for any ladies wanting to spread their mountain bike wings a bit further and visit a truly great trail centre with a fantastic atmosphere and excellent riding.

There’s lots to do – the scenic Green family trail takes in the sights of the forest and the excellent Blue graded Verderers trail is jewel of the south west, with its showcase final descent that’s guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face.

A lap of Verderers will be the main event, but depending on the preferences of the group we can take in some of the family trail first, or the super fun Launchpad downhill run after.

Meet outside the Pedalabikeaway cafe at 10.30am

Jul
9
Sun
Cwmcarn if you can @ PS Cycles, Cwmcarn
Jul 9 @ 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Cwmcarn if you can @ PS Cycles, Cwmcarn  | Wales | United Kingdom

Time for another visit to Cwmcarn.

This is a great Welsh trail centre, with 2 XC trails and some downhill tracks, with uplift available.

The main ride is 10am on Sunday, but we’ll be there the whole weekend if you want to join in on Saturday too.

Plan is to camp over Saturday nigh, ready to do the main day ride on the Sunday.

We will meet at 10am at PS Cycles on the Sunday for the main ride.

Jul
16
Sun
SMTBE First Family Fun Ride @ Three Trees Cafe
Jul 16 @ 10:30 am – 1:30 pm
SMTBE First Family Fun Ride @ Three Trees Cafe | United Kingdom

This is our first family fun ride for parents and children to ride together. The ride is suitable for bike trailers and tag alongs as well as children who can ride the distance themselves.

We will start at the Three Trees Cafe in Chiseldon and take the cycle path to Ogbourne St George. We will stop here at the playground for a break and chance for the children to have a play before heading back to the Three Trees Cafe for a drink and well deserved cake for the kids!

The ride is around 3.2 miles and is mostly flat.

We look forward to seeing you and your family on this fun Sunday ride!

Sep
9
Sat
Family Ride: Picnic and Pedals @ Croft Cycle Trail
Sep 9 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Family Ride: Picnic and Pedals @ Croft Cycle Trail | England | United Kingdom

We are basing ourselves at Croft for this family ride, riding lots of different parts of the trail.

It will be a very relaxed and enjoyable afternoon, where you can arrive at anytime after 11am. There will be numerous rides going on throughout the afternoon and you can join in with as many or as few as you like! We will cover a variety of abilities and for all age groups, starting at short rides around the paths of the trail for those that are just starting out, to sectioning areas of the blue trail and for those children that are ‘pros in the making’ we will be heading out on both the blue and red trails.

In between these rides there is chance to come and join us for a picnic lunch and I will bring some fun outdoor games for the children to play whilst they are waiting to ride as well. So why not come along with the family, bring a picnic and have some off-road biking fun!

Please note that you will be responsible for your child/children at all times and will be required to accompany them on all of the rides

May
26
Sat
SMTBE Family Ride – Swinley Saturday @ Swinley Bike Hub
May 26 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
SMTBE Family Ride - Swinley Saturday @ Swinley Bike Hub | England | United Kingdom

Sorry for the short notice, but we have a new opportunity to do a family ride at the weekend at Swinley Forest.

Swinley is a great place for all levels of cyclist, with fire roads, a great Green trail and the Blue trail, which builds up nicely.

We will start with the Green trail as an introduction, before heading out on to Blue. How much of Blue we do will depend on the ability of the group – there are some nice flatter sections, as well as nice descents, but always a fire road option as well.

There will be 2 ride leaders to guide you, but all children MUST be accompanied by an adult and remain your responsibility for the whole ride.
Children and adults must wear helmets

May
31
Thu
SMTBE Family Half Term Ride @ Waitrose
May 31 @ 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Need something to keep the kids entertained this half term? Then come along and join us on our family half term ride!

Starting at Waitrose, we will go along the Southern flyer and up a bit of the old railway line, before descending to Wichelstowe, where there is a playground to take break. From there we will head out to Croft, to do the final section of the trail (which is fairly flat), before heading back to Wichelstowe. We will go along the canal, round the lake and back up to Waitrose (& a cafe stop if desired).

Total route is 5.5 miles, or if 3.5 miles if you want to skip the Croft trip and stay at the playground. A great route combining cycle paths and off road riding.

The ride will be lead by our Welfare officer, Davinia, who is also a British Cycling qualified ride leader and Breeze champion.

Whilst on the ride your children must be accompanied and are your responsibility at all times.

Children and adults must wear helmets.

Meet outside the front of Waitrose at 10.30am

Jun
9
Sat
Exmoor Explore – Lets go to the sea @ Porlock Weir
Jun 9 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Exmoor Explore - Lets go to the sea @ Porlock Weir | Porlock Weir | England | United Kingdom
This is a warm up for those coming for the weekend, and will have a choice of gentle or mental!
 
We will be starting from our base at the Sparkhayes Campsite in the centre of Porlock and making our way to Porlock Weir, the port to the west, where there is an excellent pub, refreshments and the sea!
 
The choice will be:
A gentle pootle out, relatively flat, just taking in the scenery to the pub essentially.
Or the mental option – making our way part way up Porlock Hill (which has the steepest A road in the country!) and making our way down through the technical bridleways in the woods to the weir.
 
The choice is yours 🙂
Sep
1
Sat
SMTBE gives you Hope (MTB Marathon) @ Hope Valley College
Sep 1 @ 10:00 am – Sep 2 @ 5:00 pm
SMTBE gives you Hope (MTB Marathon) @ Hope Valley College | Hope | England | United Kingdom
The final MTB Marathon event of 2018 is in the fabulous Peak District, centred around the Hope Valley.
These are excellent events for all, with 3 distances available – 25km, 50km and 70km, with a shared start, so we can all ride out together, before splitting off if people want to do different distances.
There is free camping at the Hope Valley College, so lets make a weekend of it.
The marathon is on the Sunday, but there are 2 events on the Saturday too: a Hopetech Women’s social ride in the morning (normally 15km at a gentle pace) and a night Marathon event in the evening, with 2 distances: 20km or 40km.
We will be camping the whole weekend and are happy to take people off for a play at Lady Canning’s or somewhere else near by on the saturday for a warm up, if the other events don’t take your fancy.
 
You can get more information and sign up for the marathon here at: www.mtb-marathon.co.uk 
Aug
31
Sat
MTB-Marathon – Hope Valley @ Hope Valley College
Aug 31 @ 10:00 am – Sep 1 @ 6:00 pm
MTB-Marathon - Hope Valley @ Hope Valley College | Hope | England | United Kingdom
We did the MTB-Marathon in Hope last year and loved it. The whole series are brilliant events, incredibly well organised and supported with fabulous routes too. And free camping as well!
So we’re going to do this excellent final round in the amazing Peak District in 2019.
Although the main event is on the Sunday, there are also a Ladies Ride on the Saturday morning and a night marathon on the Saturday night, which has a choice of distances and light hire available from Exposure Lights.
On the Sunday 3 distances are available – Mini (25km), Half (45km) and Full (65km!). Bear in mind it’s in the Peak District, and the hills are big too, as well as the distance!
We’ve got members booked on the Half, but all routes start out together.

Full details here:
https://www.mtb-marathon.co.uk/events/1st-2nd-september-2018-hope-valley-peak-district.html

May
23
Sat
May Weekender 2020 – Exmoor @ Porlock
May 23 @ 10:00 am – May 25 @ 2:00 pm
May Weekender 2020 - Exmoor @ Porlock
Our annual May Bank holiday trip will be to the fabulous Exmoor in 2020.
We have 3 days riding planned and you can do all or just some of them.
 
Day 1 – the big day out. Starting from Porlock we will do a 28km loop of some of the best hills and scenery Exmoor has to offer, including Wootton Courtenay, Ranscombe and Horner. There will be amazing views of the hills, sea and Wales, epic descents and glorious woodland. There will be options on the route as well, including a cut off near the end to remove 300m of climbing, to enable more people to have a go at the route. For the “adventurous” there will also be a chance to take in one of the tracks from the Southern Enduro champs along the way (that is optional and the alternative is still a great descent, just firewood instead).
 
Day 2 – lazy Sunday. Well sort of! We will start with a considerably shorter ride (9km) to the top of Bossington Hill, for the epic view, on our way to Horner. After a lunch at the excellent tea rooms we will then do 3 uplifted descents. First we will take in a long run from the top of Dunkery Beacon, followed by an epic singletrack run from the top of Porlock Hill. Finally we will return to Porlock Hill and take a super fast fireroad route down to Porlock Weir for a pint by the sea. Up to you if you do all 3 descents or 2 or 1, but the final one is suitable for all and takes us home, so if you’re only going to do 1, it should be that 1!
 
Day 3 – Big trees. To finish off on Monday we will decamp to the outskirts of Minehead (about 15 minute drive) to Dunster Castle. Here we will ride a nice woodland route out to England’s tallest tree and back.
 
Accommodation is DIY, but I would strongly recommend Sparkhayes campsite (which I will be at). It has excellent facilities, and lovely relaxed atmosphere and great views of the hills and sea. It’s also on a few minutes walk from the pubs and shops.
There are many B&Bs in the town if you would prefer a solid roof though.
 
Outside of your accommodation and food, the only cost will be the uplift, which will be around £10 per person in total. Exact price will be confirmed nearer the time.
 
All routes will be led by qualified ride leaders, who are also first aid trained.